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    Dell Inspiron 9400 With Intel Duo Core Available (specs)

    Discussion in 'Notebook News and Reviews' started by Andrew Baxter, Jan 3, 2006.

  1. Weaser

    Weaser Notebook Geek

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    Yeah I have to admit, the free carrying case is pretty pimpin looking!! I like it a lot. Very stylish and compact and modern looking.
     
  2. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    Yes Flamex, mine says MCE 2002 in the properties. And MCE 2005 is a modified version of XP Pro. It won't let you join domains (but there is a way around that, of course), and it includes the fancy media centre. My favorite part is the free TV Guide (with cover art for all movies). FYI, microsoft has just released the TV Guide free for everyone (not just MCE users).

    Update 2:

    Screen: Yes there's some light leakage, only unbearable on a black screen (haven't tried a movie yet).

    MediaDirect: After it has gone through the initial setup, subsequent start-ups of MediaDirect takes a measly 16 seconds (XP in comparison, takes 105 seconds until desktop is ready and wifi connected).

    Noise: Does this thing have any fans? It is absolutely silent. I haven't taxed it yet, so not sure how loud it'll be. Can't hear the hard drive anyways.

    Stupid Battery: Unplugged the power (I have the 80WHr battery), and it says 2:30 left. This was in battery saving mode. For some reason, when I plugged in the USB infrared receiver for the remote, it say 2:55 left. I think the battery needs a little calibration before I do more tests.

    Included OS DVD: States that it does NOT install programs or drivers. That is what the included "Utilities and Drivers" CD is for. Should make reformat easy. Note sure about the whole hidden partition thing yet - I'd hate to lose the MediaDirect partition.

    Oh, and got one stuck pixel on the screen. Oh well, so does my HDTV (and a stuck "bug" - now THAT's a funny story - a little bug actually crawled behind the glass screen and perished in the center of it)

    Until later then...
     
  3. RedStar

    RedStar Notebook Consultant

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    TV Tuner info:
    It is made in China. It is not a plug In card...that we were led to believe when we tried to cancel it.

    It is a box..about same length as a standard key pad -incl lights (and 1 inch tall).

    It has s video output/normal video audio (white/red)

    it is called an ANGEL USB TV Tuner.

    Comes with a remote..that includes batteries.. hehe :)


    more to follow...

    edit: i guess not...comes with no manual ..no software ...only a quick install pamplet.

    revision A02

    200$ cdn --eesh

    edit 2: from the limited info i found on this tuner..people hate it and it only works on MCE version ...which they never bothered to mention at the time.
     
  4. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    OK, here are some pics and initial benchmarks. I used stock dell drivers and haven't removed any bloatware yet.

    SuperPi 1m: 32.965s
    SuperPi 2m: 1m24.764s
    3DMark03: 9225
    3DMark05: 3814
    3DMark06: 2368

    http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/kbahrbarrie/system.jpg

    http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/kbahrbarrie/screen2.jpg

    http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/kbahrbarrie/screen3.jpg

    http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/kbahrbarrie/screen4.jpg


    P.S. The 1440x900 screen is perfect for me. I would never be able to handle 1920x1200!
     
  5. Weaser

    Weaser Notebook Geek

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    Congrats man! You'll love it... especially when you can do system maintenance and work on other things at the same time. You can tell I love to multitask..
     
  6. killbee

    killbee Notebook Enthusiast

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    Please check this side for all your MCE needs ;)

    And i've found a little tool for WinAmp. If you install this, you can use the Dell Media Keys to control WinAmp
     
  7. krazz

    krazz Notebook Guru

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    Well, I received my router, my back-up cd's( not all of them though?) and my laptop will be here Monday morning!!!!! Some questions though. I have the 8x dvd and ms works 2006. Did you guys get that software(believe it is cyberlink for dvd) with the notebook?
    Also, what which drivers to get(besides dell) for performance.

    @garbuckle-Looks great! How bad is the bloatware?
     
  8. Diyow

    Diyow Newbie

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    I've noticed that you can't order the 667MHz ram modules when you put your i9400? strange...
     
  9. Diyow

    Diyow Newbie

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    I think cyberlink powerDVD is included
     
  10. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    Tried the Media button-plugin for Winamp and it worked fine. Is there a way to assign the Media Direct button for another app. than Media Experience?
     
  11. apoc286

    apoc286 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok well my 9400 is here, and unless there's someone else on here from the UK with one then I'd say I'm probably one of the first to own one in the UK.

    Not really played with it too much seeing as I only got it last night and fell asleep at about 7pm (thurs was a doozy) but I'm using it now.

    Ok anyway first impressions

    > It doesn't look like a laptop that costs as much as it does, and although it's whats inside that counts they could have at least fitted a full size keyboard, not a big thing though.

    > The screen is very clear but I'm noticing that pictures etc look a little jagged, and stuff like the smileys on this site look kind of 'fuzzy'. This could be a widescreen thing though I've never used a widescreen lappy before, maybe I can do something about this when tweaking

    > Bloatware OMFG, DELL HOW MUCH CRAP DO YOU WANT TO PLASTER ALL OVER MY MACHINE!!! GO**** YOU! They could have at least have included all the install media as standard (regrettabley I didn't request the install CD's so I'll have to get these later as accessories) so you have the option of doing an install without their rubbish plastered everywhere. The way the mcafee software tries to force you to install it, and the way the laptop practically tries to sell every ISP under the suns internet service is a very good reason to grind teeth to breaking point...

    > It is pretty noisey for a laptop, it's not enough to bother me but it's the loudest lappy I've ever heard (about as noisey as a desktop, but then again it's specced like one)

    > It does get hot, very hot, doesn't matter what your doing it seems it still runs hot (about to run aoe 3 so lets see how hot it gets after that), I'm at this moment scared to install the mobile force divers in case it gets hotter and damages itself, thats how hot it gets. In fact I dropped it into hibernate by accident and stuck it in the laptop bag and it got so hot in there I could feel the heat through the outside of the bag and the laptop actually shut itself down to protect itself (nice feature). The laptop itself when I took it was in places 'uncomfortabley' hot and this was in hibernate mode...

    > Good sound quality, the sub is definately not just there because it looks good on a specs sheet

    > The remote you can get with it is cool, but I was expecting to be able to use it without having to lug around that big a$$ (for what it is) IR reciever. I'm yet to play with that.

    > The standard case is nice big and roomy but I believe it could have a been a hell of a lot better fault out compartment wise. Come on Dell you've good a pretty good idea what kit we'll be using with this, how about some dedicated compartments for this stuff, rather then having to use the big zip up compartment inside the front flap for: the remote, the spare battery and the ac adapter, and the media direct output adapter, the modem cable and the rj11 converter because none of the other compartments they've supplied are the right sort of dimensions are large enough but are unpadded and butt directly against the laptop.

    > You do get some very useful accs with this laptop...

    > The wireless intel client works very nicely but is too fussy over security settings etc

    > I got mine with a built in bluetooth and it works quite nicely (don't know yet what profiles are supported though, the dell axim x51v had a stupidily reduced set, I'm not sure if this will too) but you would have thought they could have installed the drivers etc for you rather then installing it the first time you run it. Thats just lazy...

    > Some nice little touches like the network card can set to turn off if unconnected when on batt

    > Keyboard is nice to type with (decided that whilst writing) although the keys are a bit flat and wide for me but that is personal preference, I'll get used to it, it's still a good keyboard despite it.

    > All I'm doing is typing this post and an extra cooling fan just kicked in, WHY? This isn't streneous!!!

    > The touch pad is WAY to insensitive for me, I think this is probably made worse by the widescreen, but I like my mouse to be able to cover the whole screen without lifting my finger and although I turned the pad sensitivity to maximum I can only go between a third and half way of the way from left to right before I have to lift my finger which I find very irritating, maybe I can tweak a setting to fix this though

    > Can't turn on 802.11g without turning on bluetooth as well when using the hardware button

    > The screen seems a little over exposed but thats easily fixed I just havn't bothered yet

    > The light leakage is definately there but it's only really visible on a black screen and even then it's definately not what I'd call a problem, it's pretty easy to ignore to be honest

    > I'VE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO SCRATCH THE BACK LCD PLASTIC!!! HOW THE HELL DID I DO THAT!!! :eek:




    Anyway to sum this machine up I'm going to let some of the smiley's do the talking...

    :glossy:
    :budget: (worth it?)
    :eek:verheat:
    :noisyfan:
     
  12. Flame X

    Flame X Notebook Geek

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    nope, i got mine on monday :p
     
  13. apoc286

    apoc286 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well I did say one of ;)
     
  14. Weaser

    Weaser Notebook Geek

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    I just thought i'd add in some boot times and shutdown times. I didn't do a fresh windows xp install but just uninstalled software. my boot times are as follows: From power button to window that pops up saying i've connected to a wireless network: 60 seconds. Shutdown:16 seconds. btw.. the intel pro wireless card is friggin awesome. I've noticed on the Dell canada site that they are offering now the intel wireless card as a $70 dollar upgrade now (which was $10.00 upgrade when I bought my lappy).

    Say you find the laptop loud? Hmm thats odd. If it's as loud as your desktop, then you must have a pretty friggin quiet desktop! :) Or maybe i'm just used to hearing 7 fans whirring away.. Lol. 120mm for rear, 80mm for gpu, 80mm for front, cpu fan, chipset fan, 2-PSU fans... it's all good. My desktop is no where near the noise of my laptop. I find my laptop to be fairly quiet.
     
  15. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    Afaik the hibernate mode always shuts the computer down? The thing is that it saves what you're doing at the time so you can boot faster the next time. And if you have had it in hibernate mode for some time it shouldn't be very hot at all, because it's shut down. But if you feel it right away when you have activated hibernate mode i can understand that it's not any cooler, it takes a while before the heat is gone, even when you shut it down, it doesn't get cold right away.
     
  16. RedStar

    RedStar Notebook Consultant

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    FFF: "I've got the tracking numbers for Purolator..."
    I think you mentioned a link to find where this info is at some point, but i can't find it.

    So..where does one find tracking info so one can see exactly where laptop is.

    My friend's was shipped on thursday.

    edit: THANKS : Teslan :)
     
  17. Teslan

    Teslan Notebook Enthusiast

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    OK, on the dell site when you check your status online, there is the page there that has the little pictures that go:

    order - preproduction - production -testing - boxing - shipping ???

    Something like that. Anyways, at the bottom of that is a link in blue text that says something like "track order with shipping company" and when you click it, it takes you right to the purolator site.

    If that is too vague, just call dell and tell them you want the tracking number for the package. Thats what I did before I saw the link. Then check it online at the purolator site.
     
  18. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    I'm visiting someone, so I'll keep it short.

    Lots of bloatware, but maybe not as bad as I thought. I have the Corel Wordperfect Suite, Sonic MyDVD, and PowerDVD installed as well. The MediaDirect function works really well. I can't complain about 16 second boot up times. The speakers and sub are nice too (best on a notebook I've heard), but still not the same as desktop speakers.

    As for Purolator, you can just go to purolator.com and enter the number at the top (but if it's in the US, it will just say "In transit in US).

    I don't know what noise you're talking about. I hear nothing (but feel it). The GPU fan pushes out more heat than the CPU fan, FYI.

    The WIFI is great. Was travelling down the 401 today and it constantly said connected...disconnected (finding new networks every 5 seconds as we hurtle down the highway at 120kmph) :)
     
  19. apoc286

    apoc286 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah thats what I thought but the laptop was in the bag for over an hour so if it was residual heat it should have disapated. Unless I didn't put it into hibernate mode by accident and put it intro something else, I was in a rush (had a test to get to), hence why I didn't power it up and shut it down properly when I thought I'd put it into hibernate mode accidently. It did say that it had shut itself off due to heat so it was definately running at some soret of level. Even if I just hadn't done anything with it at all though and just chucked it in the bag whilst it was still on all the power saving should have kicked so that it was running a bare minimum anyway (but then again I havn't checked the power saving yet). Anyway I'm going to look into it further.


    I agree the intel wireless is bloody good but the software is a little bit pickier with the wireless networking security then other software I've used. Not a problem, just annoying but then again just means I can't be sloppy with my AP security (not that it was my ap I was having problems with).

    I will point out when I desktop noise levels I mean my work desktop, err my home desktop... lets not go there when talking about noise...


    At the moment though I'm busy benchmarking it so I'll have 3d mark scores for you guys tonight or tomorrow.
     
  20. stenneth

    stenneth Newbie

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    Interesting that your machine is running so hot apoc. Reminds me of a similar to a problem I had when I bought an inspiron 8200. It ran hot with the fan constantly on high and had terrible performance. After hours of trouble shooting I finally discovered a tiny piece of packing foam (about 1mm in size) that was jamming the blades of one of the two fans. I removed this with some tweezers and the problem was fixed - the second fan kicked in on low and the first fan reduced its speed to a barely audible background hum.
     
  21. ccbr01

    ccbr01 Matlab powerhouse! NBR Reviewer

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  22. Flame X

    Flame X Notebook Geek

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    I have a question that hopefully somebody will be able to answer...How do I know when Ive overclocked my graphics card too much? Ive put my "core clock and memory clock frequencies" to the highest TESTABLE settings (376 and 900 mhz), and the temp is at 64 degrees....So how do I know if Ive gone overboard with the overclocking?
     
  23. RedStar

    RedStar Notebook Consultant

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    artifacts in the display (especially white dots)...random reboots ...computer shutdown.

    i am not sure what the temp should be on a laptop...

    but if that 64 is idle temp..i'd be worried :)

    ----
    the moderator mentioned he has a thing that attaches to base of 9300 laptop to cool it more. Cool by 10C :)

    EDIT:USAFDuDe02 posted link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16834999336
    / end edit

    edit 2: Reading reviews..it really does sound too noisy ..perhaps just a stand to allow more airflow underneath ..and maybe a sealed ice tray :)


    ---
    Finally, from limited other reports...i would say you should throttle back a bit... 367/888 if my memory is close to reality :)

    More info might give us even better news.
     
  24. apoc286

    apoc286 Notebook Enthusiast

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    When you see smoke :)



    Anyway I'm sitting here now and i've been surfing the net for about 45mins, currently the laptop is resting on top of my duvet which perhaps isn't the best place to put it I don't have a desk (main reason for getting the lappy is severe lack of space) so I'm kind of limited as to where I can put it. Anyway at the moment the fans are definately running and it sounds like a normal desktop ie the kind you use at work, (in my case a dell precision 670), and not the kind you probably run at home (which in my case is bloody loud). The bottom is very warm, and I can feel heat coming from the right hand side of the keyboard. The GPU temp is at 64 degrees. Interestingly I decided to clock the gf earlier and 354mhz core and 811mhz mem (if I remember right, but i reckon I can get more) using the optimal freq detection this seemed to up temps by only about 3 degrees. The laptop does not appear to be suffering from ant thermal related issues so what I'm wondering is maybe it's something to do with me having a T2600 which might run hotter then the other cpu's and it's actually running within acceptable limits.

    I'll probably run that fan util mentionned earlier on it in the later today and see what it says.

    I dunno...
     
  25. Flame X

    Flame X Notebook Geek

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    Its around 61 degrees while idle...is that normal?

    Also, another question, when I play games, I see some texture flickering and some tearing...how do I fix that?
     
  26. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    What drivers are you using? I got that texture flickering in NFS when i used the Extreme-G MF 83.40(the newest ones anyway, the version nr i can't quite remember). When i changed back to 81.97 it stopped.
     
  27. Flame X

    Flame X Notebook Geek

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    ^^^Im using the 81.97 drivers, but it only happens when I play a certain game (FEAR).
     
  28. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    OK, here's another update;

    Did some more tests and benchmarks. I uninstalled all the dell junk (I didn't want to chance losing the MediaDirect partition), and it's a lot speedier now. I installed the 81.97 drivers, as they seem the best.

    Some 3DMark05 scores:

    stock 250/658 = 4024
    optimal 365/885 = 5597
    max OC 376/913 = 5746

    (pics later)

    I find the OC really does tax the system. The fans run harder and the GPU is hot (yet still under the 93 degree threshold). I've noticed the fan is off until the GPU reaches 82 degrees, then blows until it reduces to 70 degrees. The cpu idles around 40-50 and heats to 55-65 under load.

    Another FYI, my ZoneAlarm firewall really doesn't like the new lappy (blue screen of death upon startup). I'm on the hunt now for another free one, or may just use the windows one for now as I am also on a router.
     
  29. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    Try without overclocking then? Tried COD2 at stock clocks and it ran fine.

    EDIT

    As for the fans, i think my gpu-fan(the one on the right side?) runs on low all the time. The cpu one(the left) starts every now and then and it is a bit more noisy, but not very disturbing.
     
  30. shoemael

    shoemael Newbie

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    Hello all. I've ordered a 9400 and I'm planning to load Linux (Fedora Core 4) on it when it arrives. Has anyone on here installed linux the 9400? If so, any known issues?

    Note: I specifically upgraded the wireless to the Intel 3945 due to the notoriously poor linux support for the Broadcom chip in the Dell wireless.
     
  31. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, just wanted to see how far it would go. Here's the screen:

    http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/kbahrbarrie/screen5.jpg

    I've turned it down to 320/800, which should be plenty for what I need. My Age of Empires III runs fine with max settings at 1440x900.

    I wonder Fredrik, if your difference in ram/cpu/HD gives you the extra 3DMark05 marks (2GHz vs 1.83, 2GB vs 1GB, 7200rpm vs 5400).
     
  32. dlguiler

    dlguiler Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey all, I've read through pretty much all of this forum and I hada question. Where can you download all this overclocking software, and what's the best stuff to use? I've tried looking myself and must've read lik 40 out of the 60 pages but no luck. Also tried googling. Also with ref. to Garbuckle's concerns of deleting the MediaDirect partition, if this did happen how would you recover it? As I generally install a fresh copy of Windows every six months and wouldn't want to lose this. Thanks!
     
  33. Flame X

    Flame X Notebook Geek

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    you go to www.tweaksrus.com and look for the mobile forceware drivers.

    I have a question...my comp is running at 82 degrees right now (which is boiling), how do I turn my fans on manually? I checked the "fans always on" option, but they arent turning on...

    Ive turned off all overclocking settings, and this is in its IDLE state.
     
  34. Weaser

    Weaser Notebook Geek

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    I wouldnt' worry about it too much. Mine does the same thing. It goes to about 82 degrees and then the fan kicks in and it drops back down to 64. It just waits till it gets hot enough before the fan kicks in.

    I found something interesting with my computer last night that those of you with 2GB of memory might be interested in. I no longer use the pagefile. thats right... no more virtual memory needed. I ran battlefield 2 and everquest 2 with the pagefile turned off and no out of memory errors. So in other words, that lessens the harddrive seeking by more than half. Less hd seeking means less power and faster performance. It works great for me so far. You also save about 2-3gigs of hd space as well.
     
  35. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    Re: pagefile,

    Yeah I had the same on my desktop with 1.5GB ram. I don't recomment it if you have less than that tho. I'll wait till I upgrade to 2 gigs to do that again. There have been reports that some programs don't function without a pagefile (Photoshop for one), but I didn't come accross any problems.
     
  36. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    Well Garbuckle, afaik 3DMark tests practically just the GPU, so i don't think the other comps. should effect it very much, as it is very much the same. But i don't know how other processes run at the same time effects it, cause i've tried a few more times, and never reached the same marks. So i don't know howit measures for sure, cause it shouldn't differ 2-300 marks between runs on the same computer?
     
  37. ccbr01

    ccbr01 Matlab powerhouse! NBR Reviewer

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    One of the tests in 3dmark05 is for the cpu. ( http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1676656,00.asp)
    The 3dmark06 has the dual core addition.
     
  38. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    ccbr01. Haven't checked the link, but i remember there is a couple of tests where the FPS drops dramatically, maybe that's when the CPU is tested?
    But should the result vary very much between testruns on the same computer?
    And whcih processes can i shut down? what does 'svchost'(or something like it) do. I seem to have a couple of those, in different sizes.
     
  39. ccbr01

    ccbr01 Matlab powerhouse! NBR Reviewer

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    yup, my friends amd athlon 64 3500+ only renders at like 2-3fps. That is the cpu test.
     
  40. RedStar

    RedStar Notebook Consultant

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    svchost is a windows grouping of several related services.

    So really..you can just go to your services..and see if you can turn some services off if you are worried about resources.

    for a more detailed explanation..or how to view what is running in svchost:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314056/EN-US/
     
  41. fredrikandersson

    fredrikandersson Notebook Geek

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    ccbr01. i think mine was something like that too 2-4 fps.

    RedStar. Thanks. I'll look into that. I got like 50 processes runnning, guess it could do some difference if i could get rid of some.
     
  42. raxx

    raxx Newbie

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    Hello to everyone

    I am new to this site I am just tryin to configure my future Insp E1705, could you please help?

    One question that can seem stupid: I want to buy it with 6cell battery and then to buy additional 9 cell, it costs only 129 USD, when the upgrade from 6 to 9 is 99, not so much difference, and you get additional battery, but will it fit, is there any difference in size?

    For those who already got it - how's overall performace of the machine, I read in some review that it is inferior to XPS

    Thanks a lot
     
  43. Wesco

    Wesco Notebook Enthusiast

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    raxx,

    the batteries are the same size and fit nicely in notebook (no extending parts). The 9 cell battery is heavier though.

    In the Netherlands the upgrade to 9 cell is just 11,90 Euro (approx. 15$), which makes it a no-brainer...
     
  44. apoc286

    apoc286 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yep performance is definately inferior to the xps, not only is card not as good (the xps has the gtx version) but it's WAY underclocked. In standard trim a 9400 is actually just slightly slower then a roughly equiv desktop machine with 6800 Ultra (tried it yesterday). The performance is still excellant for a laptop though, and if you up the clock on the gpu (359/811 using optimal settings) then it will beat the afore mentioned 6800 Ultra.

    I've got the 9 cell battery in mine and as previously mentionned except for additional weight and longer batt life you won't even realise the difference, if you can afford the bigger battery and plan on using it off the mains for a significant amount of time then it's definately worth getting.



    BTW Has anyone tried running age of empires 3 with anti-aliasing on? I tried it with max res and anti-aliasing on and almost everything except for a few of the menus turned white. It's fine though if I run it at max res without anti-aliasing (standard clock freqs). Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. I'm running the mobileforce 81.97 driver.

    Anyway going to try Q4 and WoW on it tonight, has anyone had any issues with any of these so far?
     
  45. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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  46. apoc286

    apoc286 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hmm now that I think about it I can't remember if I run drivers first or aoe 3 first... I thought it was drivers but now I'm not so sure.
     
  47. raxx

    raxx Newbie

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    Thanks, Wesco and Apoc286, I will definitely go for 6 cell then as I do not plan to go around much with the lap.

    One more question, is Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card worth the 25 bucks? Is there any substantial difference with Dell internal mini 802.11g card?
     
  48. Diyow

    Diyow Newbie

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    mine is now in preproductoin since 31/01/06 :(
    so I get :eek:verheat:
     
  49. RedStar

    RedStar Notebook Consultant

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    where did you guys get the very detailed tracking info (or am i mistaken was that info from you guys talking to dell reps?)..

    i found (thanks) and tried purolator tracking details.

    but all it says is IN TRANSIT IN US..

    ?

    TIA :)

    edit: OoooooH NVM:

    "Each one of your packages can be fully tracked within the Purolator system once it has entered a Canadian induction point"
     
  50. krazz

    krazz Notebook Guru

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    *Sitting by front door waiting for UPS*
    *thinking of Domino's? commercial with the doorbell ring joke*
    *which way did he go...which way did he go...*
     
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